Ladislav Roller - Attila Haris - Ábrahám Levente (szerk.): Sawflies of the Carpathian Basin, History and Current Research - Natura Somogyiensis 11. (Kaposvár, 2008)
History of the Symphyta research in the Carpathian Basin
Sawfly research in Austria Hereunder, we discuss the sawfly research done mainly in Burgenland and in smaller part in Styria (Steiermark) and Niederösterreich (the Carpathian Basin terirtories only). Wien (Vienna) is also part of the Carpathian Basin (its entomological investigation was initiated by Franz von Paula Schrank), however due to our limited possibilities we could not discuss either the sawflies published and described from the city and from the surrounding area or the prelinnean Austrian literature deposited in the historical archives and libraries in Wien. Furthermore, it is impossible to decide whether the locus typicus of the high amount of old descriptions (loc. typ. indicated as Austria) were Wien or other territories of the Austrian part of the Habsburg Empire. Gabriel Stróbl (Unzenmarkt, 1846 - Admont, 1925, entomologist and Benedictine of the Admont Monastery, Austria) studied the sawfly fauna of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (STRÓBL 1895 and 1896). Most of his records are out of the Carpathian Basin (Lemberg, Innsbruck, Melk, Prague) but about 35 species were recorded from Piesting (river at the western border of Burgenland) and few further species were reported from the internal part of the Carpathian Basin (mainly from Transylvania). He also published a separate paper on the Hymenoptera fauna of the Royal Hungary in 1901 (STRÓBL 1901). Wolfgang Schedl (1936 München - , professor emeritius, Innsbruck University, Institute of Terrestial Ecology) studied and published the Symphyta collection of the Landesmuseum Joanneum in Graz and reported numerous species from the Austrian part of the Carpathian Basin (SCHEDL 1972, 1973, 1975, 1980a, 1983, 1987) completing the fauna-catalogue of Austria (SCHEDL 1980b, 1982). In his paper on the morphology and biology of Xyela curva Benson, he provided distribution data on this species in the Carpathian Basin (SCHEDL 1997). High number of valuable data (mainly from Austria and some species from Slovakia) was published in the book of Herbert Franz (1908 Sopron - 2002 Mödling, professor emeritius, Universitát für Bodenkultur Wien) titled: Die Hymenopteren des Nordostalpengebietes und seines Vorlandes (FRANZ 1982) based partly on the material of the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien. Applied Symphyta researches in the Carpathian Basin The first records on sawfly pests, with the damages caused and their biology were published in the earliest books (GROSSINGER 1794 and FÖLDI 1801) discussed above. These early authors described the life history of Urocerus gigas L., Cephus pygmaeus L. and Arge ochropus Gmel. (published as Tenthredo rosae L) and Nematus ribesi Scop, (published as Tenthredo capreae L.). However, the intensive plant protection research started after the foundation of the National Phyloxera Experimental Station {Országos Phyloxéra Kísérleti Állomás) in 1880. It was reorganised in 1890 and renamed Magyar Királyi Állandó Rovartani Állomás (Royal Hungarian Entomological Research Station) that is now the Plant Protection Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Furthermore, applied Symphyta researches were also done in the Plant Protection Faculties of the Agricultural and Horticultural Universities (Budapest, Keszthely, Gödöllő and Debrecen) and also in the County Stations of the Hungarian Plant Protection Service founded in 1932. The Hungarian research centre of forestry protection (including sawfly pests research) is the Erdészeti Tudományos Intézet (Forestry Research Institute) in Budapest founded in Selmecbánya (Banská Stiavnica) in 1897. The most important journals on plant protection: Köztelek (Journal of the Association of
